: : : I hobby farm around 15 acres of hay I use a AC 80T sickle mower to knock down my hay, Hay Binders are priced too high still up here, I found a NH hay crimper 402 in working shape for $50.00 Does any one know any thing about this machine? Is it worth the effort to go over the hay with the crimper? Thanks Mike Huber: For $50 it would be a cheap way to find out. : I believe that what you are describing is what I used one summer about 25 years ago. About 6' wide, adjusting handles on each side, and the crimpers are rolls made up of flat bars welded around to make a cylinder about6 or 8" in diameter. The bars interlock loosly like gears. It did a pretty good job of cracking the stems and did let the hay dry faster. One note of caution - the drive line uses a small bolt as a shear pin. Be sure and get a pocket full of them, as it will shear quite readily if you hit any obstruction, such as a rut, etc. You will probably need to run the crimper at a slower ground speed that your sickle bar mower. : I have used the type of conditioners that use rubber rolls -- they tend to clog much easier that the crimper. : We soon went to a Heston mower/conditioner, and followed it up with a tedder in order to get decent drying times. In central WV, we had high humidity, cool nights, fog and heavy dew, so getting the hay dry was a real problem. Yes you have described this hay crimper to a T I'm picking it up Fri. go tru it for next spring and see what happens ,Thanks Every Body for your help Mike Huber
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